# Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles
The women's 400 meters hurdles at the 2024 Summer Olympics was the Olympic championship race over one lap of the track with ten hurdles, held at the [Stade de France](https://www.edgepedia.org/stade-de-france) in Paris with the final on the evening of 8 August 2024. [Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-mclaughlin-levrone) of the United States won in 50.37 seconds, breaking her own world record and retaining the Olympic title she had taken in Tokyo in 2021.[1](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-evening-day-8-mclaughlin-levrone-tebogo-nadeem)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Champion | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA), 50.37 seconds, a new world record[1](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-evening-day-8-mclaughlin-levrone-tebogo-nadeem) |
| Silver and bronze | Anna Cockrell (USA) 51.87; Femke Bol (Netherlands) bronze[2](https://www.axios.com/2024/08/08/mclaughlin-levrone-wins-400-meter-hurdles-world-record-time) • [3](https://worldathletics.org/jp/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-report-women-400m-hurdles) |
| Records before the race | World record 50.65 (Eugene, 30 June 2024); Olympic record 51.46 (Tokyo, 4 August 2021)[4](https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/misc/olympics/OG2024_ATHLETICS.pdf) |
| Schedule | Round 1 on 4 August, semi-finals on 6 August, final on 8 August at 21:25[5](https://english.elpais.com/sports/results/olympic-games/atletismo/atletismo-400m-vallas-femenino/) • [6](https://parigi2024.coni.it/en/schedule/venues/impianto/20%3AStade_de_France.html) • [7](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/results/women/400-metres-hurdles/final/result) |
| Venue | Stade de France, Paris, athletics program 1–11 August 2024[8](https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7153115?eventId=10229523&gender=W) |
## The final
McLaughlin-Levrone arrived in Paris as the world-record holder at 50.65, set at the US Olympic trials in Eugene on 30 June 2024, and the Olympic record stood at 51.46 from her Tokyo victory.[4](https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/misc/olympics/OG2024_ATHLETICS.pdf) In the final she ran 50.37, lowering her own world record and finishing well clear of the field; [World Athletics](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-athletics) described the run as obliterating the mark.[1](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-evening-day-8-mclaughlin-levrone-tebogo-nadeem) Her teammate Anna Cockrell took silver in 51.87 seconds.[2](https://www.axios.com/2024/08/08/mclaughlin-levrone-wins-400-meter-hurdles-world-record-time) [Femke Bol](https://www.edgepedia.org/femke-bol) of the Netherlands, the reigning world champion, took bronze.[3](https://worldathletics.org/jp/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-report-women-400m-hurdles)
**The main rival.** Bol had raised expectations before the race by lowering her European record from 51.45 to 50.95 in July 2024, using a modified stride pattern of 14 steps to hurdle seven and then 15 over the final three hurdles.[3](https://worldathletics.org/jp/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-report-women-400m-hurdles) She and McLaughlin-Levrone were the only two women in history to have run the event under 51 seconds before the Games.[9](https://time.com/7005510/track-field-paris-olympics-rivalries/)
## Schedule and format
The competition ran across the first week of the athletics program at the Stade de France. The first round was held on Sunday 4 August 2024, starting at 10:35 in the morning session.[5](https://english.elpais.com/sports/results/olympic-games/atletismo/atletismo-400m-vallas-femenino/) The semi-finals took place on Tuesday 6 August in the evening session, between 20:07 and 22:00.[6](https://parigi2024.coni.it/en/schedule/venues/impianto/20%3AStade_de_France.html) The final started at 21:25 on Thursday 8 August.[7](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/results/women/400-metres-hurdles/final/result)
## The world record progression
McLaughlin-Levrone's 50.37 was her sixth time breaking her own world record, according to NBC Olympics.[10](https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/olympic-track-and-field-paris-2024-biggest-stories-replays-medal-results-top-athletes-new) Before the US trials in June 2024 her mark stood at 50.68, a time she had reached through four record runs over the preceding three years, most of them on the Eugene track where the trials were held.[11](https://apnews.com/article/0a0b9a63c8be99fba6b9f820263f0f1b) The event's first women's world record was set by Poland's Krystyna Kacperczyk in July 1974, and since 1977 world records at 400 meters and below have required automatic timing.[12](https://worldathletics.org/disciplines/middlelong/400-metres-hurdles)
## Context
The race was widely seen as one of the highlights of the Paris athletics program. An Associated Press preview before the Games noted a growing debate over whether the 400 meters hurdles was supplanting the 100 meters as the most electric race on the track program, with McLaughlin-Levrone credited with lifting the women's event into must-watch status.[11](https://apnews.com/article/0a0b9a63c8be99fba6b9f820263f0f1b) Her victory made her a two-time Olympic champion in the event, having also won in Tokyo in 2021 in the then Olympic record of 51.46.[4](https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/misc/olympics/OG2024_ATHLETICS.pdf)
## References
1. [McLaughlin-Levrone stuns with world 400m hurdles record, Tebogo and Nadeem upset the favourites in Paris, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-evening-day-8-mclaughlin-levrone-tebogo-nadeem)
2. [McLaughlin-Levrone wins 400-meter hurdles in world record time, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2024/08/08/mclaughlin-levrone-wins-400-meter-hurdles-world-record-time)
3. [McLaughlin-Levrone smashes world 400m hurdles record in Paris with 50.37, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/jp/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/news/article/paris-2024-olympics-report-women-400m-hurdles)
4. [Official Athletics Results Book, Paris 2024, World Athletics](https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/misc/olympics/OG2024_ATHLETICS.pdf)
5. [Results 400m Hurdles Women's, Paris 2024 Olympics, EL PAÍS English](https://english.elpais.com/sports/results/olympic-games/atletismo/atletismo-400m-vallas-femenino/)
6. [Venues, Stade de France, Paris 2024, CONI](https://parigi2024.coni.it/en/schedule/venues/impianto/20%3AStade_de_France.html)
7. [FINAL, 400 Metres Hurdles, Results, Paris 24, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxiii-olympic-games-7153115/results/women/400-metres-hurdles/final/result)
8. [The XXXIII Olympic Games, Results, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7153115?eventId=10229523&gender=W)
9. [6 Track-and-Field Rivalries to Watch at the Paris Olympics, TIME](https://time.com/7005510/track-field-paris-olympics-rivalries/)
10. [Olympic track and field at Paris 2024: Biggest stories, medal results, new records, NBC Olympics](https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/olympic-track-and-field-paris-2024-biggest-stories-replays-medal-results-top-athletes-new)
11. [Paris awaits for Sha'Carri, Lyles and dozens more, but Olympic spots must be earned at trials, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/0a0b9a63c8be99fba6b9f820263f0f1b)
12. [400 Metres Hurdles, World Athletics disciplines](https://worldathletics.org/disciplines/middlelong/400-metres-hurdles)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Athletics, gymnastics, and strength sports › Major athletics competitions and results*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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